


Bad Moon Rising

by vix_spes



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Hannibal Extended Universe - Fandom, The Path (TV)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Hannibal Extended Universe, M/M, Necromancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 20:34:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21259247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vix_spes/pseuds/vix_spes
Summary: When he had run into the woods, this had been the last thing Cal had expected to experience...





	Bad Moon Rising

It was one of those days where things had gone from bad to worse.

Cal didn’t want to blame it on the full moon but, well, it probably hadn’t helped. At least not if you believed that kind of thing. 

He hadn't slept well. Dreams - memories - of what Steve had done to him disrupting his sleep. When he had managed to sleep, he ended up waking in cold sweats, chest heaving as he struggled for breath. His cell ringing woke him from his final fitful doze and he answered groggily to find Eddie on the other end of the phone telling him that he needed Cal to take care of The Movement for him for the day while Eddie dealt with a personal matter.

That had, of course, prompted yet another argument with Mary. He genuinely didn't know why she bothered staying anymore considering she not only hated Eddie and The Movement, but that Cal could no longer do anything right in her eyes. Truthfully, the day that she upped and left with Forest was inevitable, it was just a matter of when. Cal thought he loved her, as much as he knew how to love. Enough that he'd miss her when she inevitably went. Yet, the constant fighting would be no loss. There was no point trying to defend himself against her because, as far as she was concerned, nothing he said would be acceptable, would make her happy. Instead, he simply let her rail at him and then tried not to flinch too badly when she stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

It was easy enough to lose himself in work for the rest of the day. He might have had his disagreements with Eddie, been disappointed that it was Eddie chosen to lead the Movement and not him but, in truth, Cal had never enjoyed his work for the Movement more. He believed in this. He believed in what Eddie was doing, in what they were trying to achieve. He knew that he and Mary had discussed leaving the Movement behind, of creating something new together but that wasn't right for him, not anymore. Their paths had diverged. They were travelling different roads and the sooner that Mary accepted that, the easier it would be.

Of course, the fact that he'd been having a good day meant that something was going to go wrong. It started with a phone call from Sarah. Strange how, once upon a time, Cal would have sworn that he was in love with her. Would do anything for her. Had done anything for her, to the detriment of his own health and self. It had been, as was the case these days, about Lillith. And, as always, left Cal uncomfortable and on edge. Hard to believe that this was once the woman that Cal had loved.

And then, to compound the issue, Vera had hunted him down, wanting - needing - to speak to him.

Cal wasn't sure what it was about her that set him on edge, gave him the sense that he needed to be wary around her. He knew that she had grown up on the Compound, at least to some extent. That she had been close to Steve, that she had been close to Cal but he couldn't remember the details. That was what set him on edge. Not merely the fact that she made him uncomfortable, that he got the feeling that she wasn't being totally honest about not just herself, but her involvement in the Movement.

Inevitably, the interaction with Vera and the talk of Steve sent Cal’s thoughts spiralling back to the previous evening, to his memories - to his nightmares - of the man. Not wanting to return home in case Mary had already returned, Cal decided to opt for something else; a Hypoxian cleanse.

(~*~)

It didn't work.

Normally the cleanse - a ritual of confession, bondage and asphyxiation - was what Cal needed to live with his memories of Steve. To live with what the man who had been his father figure had done to him. The combination worked, helped him get by.

Tonight, it failed. 

He didn't know why. Maybe he'd drunk too much whisky. Smoked too much ayuhuasca to just give it an edge. Maybe the bindings hadn't been tight enough. Hell, maybe it was because of the full moon. It wasn't enough. Instead of giving him release, relief, it made things infinitesimally worse. He found himself shaking, heart racing and blood thrumming through his veins as he stumbled further away from the safety of the Compound and deeper into the woods.

But that didn't bring any respite to his tortured mind. If anything, it made things worse. There were ghosts in the woods. Demons, spirits from Cal’s past, things that he had done. It didn't help that the further he got, the closer the trees grew together, branches slapping at his face and bare arms. It was harder for the light of the moon to penetrate here and, when he did catch glances of it, the moon was shadowed by clouds. 

The dim light meant that Cal didn't see the hole until it was too late.

The measurements. The depth. It could only be one thing; a grave. That realisation did nothing to help Cal’s state of mind. He was in a grave. And one that was disturbingly empty of a body or even a skeleton. Cal allowed himself a few minutes to hyperventilate, fingers clawing at the camp earth before he forced himself to find a way out. It wasn't easy, but the exposed tree roots helped him somewhat.

When he made it to the top, Cal almost wished that he had stayed in the grave.

As he reached the top, he found that there were a number of shadowy figures performing some kind of ritual. It looked like there were maybe five of them, all dressed in long, maroon robes, standing in a circle around a covered mound. Cal watched, trying not to make even the quietest sound that would draw their attention to him, as they started chanting in a language that Cal had never heard before, their hands making strange shapes in the air.

Cal couldn't keep silent as the light began to form between the shapes. Flickering like lightning between the hands of the robed figures. One glanced his way at his gasp but dismissed the sound as inconsequential. For his part, Cal simply kept watching in horror as, whatever they were doing, caused the object under the cloth to start moving.

The wind shifted, illuminating the figures in the moonlight and Cal could see strange purple markings around their eyes … were those cracks in their skin? But then the cloth was falling away. Whatever was underneath it was moving and dropping to reveal a figure that was both human yet monstrous at the same time.

Yet, despite the monstrosity, Cal couldn't look away. 


End file.
